Jack Wallen shows you how easy it is to add kanban boards to your Google Workspace account for free with Kanbanchi.
Kanban is my go-to project management tool. It’s not that there are other outstanding tools to use, it’s just that I believe kanban is the most efficient means of managing projects. With a quick glance, you can see exactly where every piece of the puzzle is within the project.
Also, Google Workspace is my go-to productivity service. I depend on Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Keep, and Google Drive on a daily basis. Naturally, it would make perfect sense to bring those two things together.
Thanks to Kanbanchi, that’s possible. This Google Workspaces add-on is free to use for a trial period and integrates seamlessly into the Google Workspaces menu. However, it’s not quite obvious where you locate the tool.
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Kanbanchi includes features like unlimited kanban boards, cards and sub-cards, templates, search and filter, activity feed, email and in-app notifications, Google Calendar integration, Drive and Shared Drive attachments, export to Google Sheets, subscription management, and backups.
Let me show you how to get started using kanban boards in Google Workspace.
What you’ll need
The only things you’ll need for this are a valid Google Workspaces account (either free or paid) and a web browser. That’s it; let’s get our kanban on.
Before we get started, know that you can use Kanbanchi free for a trial period, or you can purchase a paid plan. The paid plans look like this:
- Starter: $7.95 per user per month for unlimited kanban boards, cards and sub cards, and more.
- Professional: $19.97 per user per month for everything in Starter with the addition of Gantt charts and more.
- Enterprise: Starting at $34.97 per user per month for everything in Professional with multi-level admin and more.
To view the entire feature set for each plan, check out the Kanbanchi pricing matrix.
How to access Kanbanchi in Google Workspaces
Open Google Drive, and make sure you’re logged into your account. Before you can actually access Kanbanchi, you must first install the add-on from the Google Workspaces Marketplace. To do that, click the dotted grid to the left of your profile icon and scroll to the bottom where you’ll see More From Google Workspace Marketplace (Figure A).
Figure A
Click More From Google Workspaces Marketplace, and then, search for Kanbanchi. Locate the Kanbanchi card, and then, click Install. This will integrate Kanbanchi into your Google Workspaces Apps menu, so now when you click the grid icon and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see Kanbanchi listed.
How to start using Kanbanchi
With the service installed, click the entry in the Google Workspaces App menu, and you’ll be prompted to sign in with your Google account (Figure B).
Figure B
A pop-up window will appear asking you to select a Google account to use and allow Kanbanchi access. Once you’ve taken care of those two things, you’ll be redirected back to the Kanbanchi window, where you can begin creating your first kanban board (Figure C).
Figure C
Click Untitled Dashboard to take you to your default dashboard (Figure D), where you then begin to customize your dashboard by giving it a name, adding boards, customizing columns and more.
Figure D
At this point, you should be good to go, as customizing your Workspaces and Boards is very straightforward. I would recommend giving the free trial a go, as I believe you’ll find Kanbanchi an outstanding kanban service that can stand up to the best of them.
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